This invention relates to liquid rim dispensers to be suspended from the rim of a toilet bowl in the path of flushing water during a flushing operation of the toilet, and including a bottle containing a lavatory freshner/cleaner liquid a quantity of which is delivered to the toilet during a flushing operation.
A liquid rim dispenser of the above mentioned type is, for example, sold under the trade name Toilet Duck by Johnson Wax. The dispenser comprises a carrier with an upwardly extending tubular puncturing member with a bottom aperture and a fan-shaped plate with radially extending grooves whose innermost portions underlie the aperture. A bottle of liquid composition with a sealing cap is applied on the carrier so that the puncturing member pierces the cap and the liquid drains onto the carrier below. A predetermined volume of liquid composition is held by way of capillary action on the grooves for entrainment into a toilet during a flushing operation. The liquid rim dispenser is necessarily required to be more or less upright for containment of liquid composition in the grooves, however, since such a disposition can be easily upset by the action of flushing water, the liquid rim dispenser is susceptible to leakage therefrom. If the liquid composition is colored, the blue color being most often preferred, a streak or drops leave unpleasant stains on the wall of the toilet bowl.
A liquid rim dispenser is manufactured by Sano, Israel (Patent Application No. 134160) where a bottle with colored liquid composition is disposed in a toppled position over a carrier in a similar manner to the Toilet Duck described above. However, the Sano dispenser provides a cup under the bottle opening, the cup walls being higher than the opening. Thereby, a limited portion of concentrated colored liquid drained in the cup above the level of the bottle opening is always ready to be mixed with the flushing water. The cup is surrounded by a slotted wall conductive to the vigorous mixing of the colored composition with the flushing water.
Other liquid rim dispensers are disclosed, for example, in EP 0538957 and EP 0785315, in which a quantity of liquid composition is washed out from a porous mass made of sponge or sintered porous material during a flushing operation.
A toilet dispenser of a different type, disclosed in IL 85410 and directed to delivering colored solution to the toilet bowl, is designed for using a solid preparation dissolvable by the flushing water. It comprises a holder for the solid colored substance and a bath under the holder, the bath having two openings slightly extended by tubing so that the colored solution drops far from the bowl wall.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a liquid rim dispenser intended for suspension from a rim of a toilet bowl adjacent a wall thereof, in the path of flushing water during a flushing operation. The liquid rim dispenser comprises a basin with a basin wall and a basin bottom having a bottom opening, a cup with a cup wall and a cup bottom fixed within the basin, and a container with a colored staining liquid. The container has a discharge opening facing the bottom of the cup with a predetermined clearance therebetween. The dispenser is so configured that the discharge opening is lower than the cup wall, the bottom opening is lower than the cup wall and is located remote from the wall of the toilet bowl, and the bottom opening is higher than the lowest portion of the basin bottom, at least when the dispenser is suspended from the bowl rim.
The dispenser operates in the following way: the colored liquid seeps into the cup forming a first pool, and the discharge opening, which is the only access for air into the container, becomes submerged in the first pool. During a first flushing operation, the flushing water entrains the colored liquid from the first pool therewith into the toilet, spilling over the basin wall. A last portion of the flushing water is retained in the basin below the basin wall and is gradually drained from the dispenser through the bottom opening, dropping clear from the wall of the toiled bowl. A second pool of diluted color liquid is formed in the low portion of the basin bottom ready to be entrained with the flow of flushing water in a next flushing operation. This process is repeated until the container is empty.
The liquid rim dispenser preferably comprises two bottom openings disposed in a line generally parallel to the rim of the toilet bowl. The openings are preferably formed as drainage tubes extended beneath the bottom of the basin and curved so as to convey the dropping last portion of the flushing water farther from the wall of the toilet bowl. The drainage tubes may be also elevated above the bottom of the basin, thereby defining the low portion of the basin bottom.
The cup bottom is preferably elevated from the basin bottom, at least about the level of the drainage tubes"" inlets.
The wall of the basin and the wall of the cup are preferably complemented with a plurality of baffles and openings or slits therebetween so as to restrain the flow of flushing water and delay the entraining of the colored liquid into the toilet bowl.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the liquid rim dispenser consists of a holder including said basin and a rim handle, and a separate container in the form of a replaceable bottle. The holder is preferably molded as one piece of material. The opening of the replaceable bottle is preferably covered by a puncturable cap which is punctured by a blade integral with the cup bottom in the moment when a new bottle is replaced in the holder.
The present invention uses the well known physical phenomenon that atmospheric pressure acting on a surface area of a pool of liquid can support a column of liquid within an inverted vessel whose open end is submerged in the pool of liquid. The volume of the pool of liquid which accumulates in the cup is dependent on its height which in turn is dependent on a number of factors including the annular surface area of the pool, the viscosity of the liquid composition, its surface tension, and others. The liquid rim dispenser of the present invention can be readily adapted for use with a wide variety of liquid compositions having a viscosity within the range of 50 and 3,000 centipoises at 25xc2x0 C. to meet different criteria in terms of color, foam forming, odor release, desired number of flushing operations per bottle, and other considerations.
The liquid rim dispenser of the present invention promotes effective dilution of the colored liquid in the flushing water by preparing at each flushing a pool of diluted liquid ready for washing away with the next flushing. The inventive liquid dispenser delays the draining of the basin towards the end of the flushing operation thereby preventing the waste of colored liquid with the first portions of flushing water which always go down the sewer. This is beneficial to the overall freshening and cleaning action of the liquid composition. Moreover, the bottom openings in the basin of the present dispenser are specially designed to avoid staining of the toilet bowl wall by the last drops of relatively concentrated colored liquid draining from the basin.